Gibbs a big fan of Wenger's new system at Arsenal
Arsene Wenger's switch to a new 3-4-3 formation has pleased Kieran Gibbs after victory over Manchester United made it four wins from five.
Kieran Gibbs says he is a fan of Arsene Wenger's three-man defence and believes Arsenal are learning the new strategy quickly after their victory over Manchester United.
Wenger has deployed his new 3-4-3 system for the last five matches and while the Gunners lost to Tottenham last week, they have won the other four, including victories over Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-finals and against United in the Premier League.
The formation sees Gibbs lining up as a left wing-back instead of his regular left-back role and he is happy with how it is working after second-half goals from Granit Xhaka and Danny Welbeck downed Jose Mourinho's men on Sunday.
"I think the formation is good for the team," Gibbs told the club's website.
"After a few defeats sometimes you need to change. It opens up new opportunities for me and I'm happy to have got a few games under my belt.
"That's always when I feel at my best, when I get a few games. I feel much stronger now.
"I think I can adapt to both [left-back and wing-back positions] to be honest. A lot depends on the personnel on the pitch at the time and how well we can adapt to each formation.
Get FourFourTwo Newsletter
The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.
"We still need a lot of work on this formation, we haven't been doing it for long, but we can learn quickly, especially in games like this. We are picking it up quickly."
Big congratulations to - your man of the match May 8, 2017
Arsenal's wing-back on the opposite flank, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, was impressed by the Gunners' performance in what he felt was a convincing victory over United.
"It’s what we needed - we needed three points to start momentum," he said.
"We had a disappointing result last week and we needed to pick it back up. Obviously it’s tough to play Manchester United.
"Three points was all we wanted and I thought it was quite convincing in the end. In the second half, I thought we played really well and I thought we saw the game out well.
"It was massive [for our confidence]. We have to win as many games as we can until the end of the season."
‘After Manchester City’s recent form, maybe they’re the underdogs against Manchester United!’ Former Red Devils defender on this weekend’s derby
‘Arteta, Alonso, Emery, me… none of us were physical players – we needed the understanding of the game. That probably helped us move into management’: Premier League boss reveals reasons for natural career progression